With family back in Crimea, Pack’s Michelle Okhremchuk plays for a brighter future

Downtown Kiev was one of Michelle Okhremchuk’s favorite places to visit when she was growing up.

The Ukraine-born Okhremchuk would travel to her native country’s capital and most populated city as often as possible. She’d meet up with friends there. She’d go shopping and visit clubs. She’d eat sushi or go to her favorite restaurant “Mafia,” an Italian/Japanese diner blocks from the Dnieper River.

“It was the most beautiful part of Kiev,” Okhremchuk said. “It was so nice, and now, it’s destroyed.”

Okhremchuk, the star of the Wolf Pack tennis team, set the program record for career singles victories Sunday at Caughlin Athletic Club, the shining moment in her standout four-year career. It’s a moment she cherished, but that celebration was played against the destruction in Ukraine.

Last month, her favorite city, Kiev, was in an apocalyptic state. Buildings were burned. Black plumes of smoke billowed over the historic landmarks. Fires burned uncontrollably. Soldiers marched the streets. Dozens died in bursts of violence. All of this was a result of antigovernment demonstrators rioting.

“I’ve seen pictures and everything is black and dark and buildings are burned down,” said Okhremchuk, who was born in Donetsk, Ukraine, 450 miles southwest of Kiev. “I feel sorry for those people.”

Wolf Pack women's tennis player Michelle Okhremchuk hits a ball during practice at Caughlin Athletic Club last week. (Andy Barron/RGJ)

Meanwhile, Okhremchuk’s parents, Zhanna and Anatoliy, are watching their homeland of Crimea being overtaken by Russian forces this month. Destructive force hasn’t been taken there yet, but Okhremchuk, who moved to Crimea at age 8, was freaked out enough to tweet: “Ok my mom needs to leave Crimea right now!!!! It was the safest place to be and now it’s the worst #imscared.”

The Ukraine that Okhremchuk grew up loving is still there, but only in fractures. It’s a country in turmoil, one undergoing massive change. Okhremchuk now lives 6,000 miles away, cracking one ball after another while chasing her dream of becoming a pro tennis player. Yet, she remains mindful of her family continents away. Even as Russia overtakes her adopted home, Okhremchuk clings to her roots.

“I always wanted Crimea to be part of Europe,” she said. “I never wanted it to be part of Russia. I’m Ukrainian, and that’s how it should be. I never wanted it to be part of Russia because I’m not Russian.”

Finding her niche

When Okhremchuk was 6 years old, her father wanted her to find a hobby she enjoyed. They both thought piano would be a good choice, but her dad scrapped that idea.

“My dad said it would be better if I played sports and not gain weight,” Okhremchuk said, laughing.

So, it was down to dancing or tennis. Okhremchuk is glad she didn’t pick dancing. First, she’s not very good at it. Second, she’s great at tennis. That was evident from the first few swings of her racket.

Within a year, the coach at the local tennis facility knew Okhremchuk was something special. He told her parents that she was better than the rest of the kids. She needed to keep playing. He could find her sponsors, if necessary. When Michelle was 8, the Okhremchuk family knew it had something special, so they decided to move to Alushta, a coastal town of 30,000 people in Crimea, for better training.

“She knew what she wanted to do,” her older brother, Andrey, said. “Quite often, the parents direct the kids. But she liked what she was doing. A lot of kids can get frustrated because they haven’t tried a lot of things in their life, but she was quite determined in tennis, to be honest, which was very good.”

After moving to Crimea, Okhremchuk quickly found tennis would become very intense, essentially a job.

She’d have to hit 5,000 backhands against the wall, followed by 5,000 forehands. Her mother stood behind her, critiquing her play. She would have to jump rope 2,000 times without messing up. If she did trip up on the rope, she’d have to start over and keep going until she successfully hit the 2,000 barrier.

Sports are business in Europe. It doesn’t matter if you’re 12, 22 or 32. Much is demanded from an athlete.

“When it comes to Russian tennis players or Ukrainian tennis players, our parents are very intense about it,” Okhremchuk said. “I remember fights happening between parents that are in the crowd punching each other. I was playing and one parent tried to hit with a chair another parent. It’s very intense. The kids are 12 years old, and the coaches and parents are getting crazy. The coach would come on the court and get the child if he doesn’t play well. The parents will do anything to get their player to succeed. It doesn’t matter if you’re sick. It doesn’t matter if you’re in pain. Do it. It’s not the military, but it’s close.”

Okhremchuk quickly was a standout in Crimea. An academy in France came calling. They flew her to their academy in Nice, the southern part of the country, for a youth tournament. If Okhremchuk played well, she could get a scholarship.

The tournament was so important Okhremchuk’s mother promised a free shopping trip if she won the event. Her daughter delivered, making it to the finals before having to withdraw with heat stroke. Still, she was good enough that the coach accepted her into the $40,000-per-year-academy.

So, despite being just 12 years old, Okhremchuk was put on a plane by herself headed for France.

“I was super scared,” Okhremchuk said. “I didn’t speak English. I was just 12 years old. It was a 2.5-hour flight and they just put me on there and said, ‘Bye!’ They said, ‘You’re our only hope. You’re our only athlete in our family.’ They got very excited and put all their heart in me to make me stronger.”

At times, Okhremchuk couldn’t handle that pressure. Her body started to break. She played well in France, but also nursed a long-term back injury, which killed her chances of turning pro straight out of high school. After graduating, with her back still in some pain, she decided college was the right path.

“I wanted to go somewhere in California where it was nice,” Okhremchuk said.

Coming to America

It’s funny the things that can sway a recruit. Okhremchuk had offers from Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Nevada. She didn’t know much about the Midwest schools but Nevada was close to California.

When she heard “Nevada,” Okhremchuk thought of Las Vegas, which made her think of the movie “The Hangover.” She Googled a picture of Lake Tahoe and fell in love with the scenery. Plus, in one of her favorite movies, “The Wizard,” lead actors Fred Savage and Jenny Lewis visited Reno.

It helped that Nevada’s coach at the time, Sylvain Malroux, was French. So, Okhremchuk headed to Reno, with nearly as much fear as she had when she left for France at 12.

“I remember panicking when I came here,” Okhremchuk said. “France is like 3 hours away from Ukraine and U.S. is almost 24 hours away. I never wanted to go so far away.”

When the 17-year-old Okhremchuk first stepped foot in America, she saw Reno’s downtown casino skyline and thought, “I guess this is Nevada life.” At first, Okhremchuk was skeptical about how her game would fit at the college level. Her coaches were a lot more confident.

“When we saw her, we definitely knew we needed to get her,” said Guillaume Tonelli, the current head coach who was an assistant at Nevada when Okhremchuk joined the team. “Tennis is funny. A lot of players know how to play, but they don’t have the structure and the guidance. As soon as she got here, we put in a little bit of structure and a little bit of guidance and she just took off.”

Things on the court went smoothly. Okhremchuk became Nevada’s No. 1 singles player as a freshman and was first-team all-league in singles and doubles. Things off the court were more of an adjustment.

Some of the adjustments were hard: Learning how to speak English and adjust to college-level classes. Some of them were easier, at least on the surface, like learning how to cheer for her team.

“When I got here, I was like, ‘I have to cheer for the other girls?’” Okhremchuk said. “I have to say, ‘“Go Pack?” Can I not do that?’ The coach had to force me at first. He said, ‘When the other girls are playing say, “Go Pack.”’ I had to get used to it. In Europe, it’s a lot different. You’re an individual. You don’t focus on a team. You just win your match, stretch and leave. Here, you come back and cheer on your team.”

She eventually learned the “Go Pack” part and continued to improve her game.

The powerfully built 5-foot-8 Okhremchuk always had a triple-digit serve and punishing backhand. She’s improved her net play. She worked on her angles. She became a more cerebral player. But, her main strength has always been her mental and physical toughness, which you can trace to her European roots.

“She comes from a pretty tough background, playing-wise,” Tonelli said. “The Russian environment is a lot of repetition and being tough on the players. She definitely has the background of being tough. The ball can come as fast as you want and she’s going to sit on the baseline saying, ‘Hit it even faster.’”

Wolf Pack record-breaker

During Okhremchuk’s junior season, she met Tracey King, who was being inducted into the Wolf Pack Hall of Fame. Okhremchuk had never heard King’s name before, but she’s now familiar with it.

Playing for Nevada from 1988-92, King set the Wolf Pack record for career singles victories with 84. When they met last year, Tonelli told King that Okhremchuk was on pace to eclipse her mark.

On Sunday, with a win over Pacific’s Iveta Masarova, Okhremchuk moved past King with her 84th career win. Playing almost exclusively in the No. 1 slot, against the toughest competition, Okhremchuk has a 70.6 win percentage. She’s a six-time all-league pick, being honored in singles and doubles every year.

Quite simply: She’s the Wolf Pack’s best women’s tennis player in the program’s 38-year history.

“At the No. 1 spot, it’s a battle every match,” Tonelli said. “Every team has a good No. 1, and she’s been fighting that battle for us for four years and she brings home a lot of Ws for us. Even if she doesn’t bring back the W, it’s a battle. She always plays good tennis. She always brings positivity and hard work.”

Okhremchuk, who is on pace to graduate with a degree in criminal justice and foreign affairs in 2015, will try and crack the professional ranks after the season. Thousands try and take that path, but only the top 100 on the WTA Tour make any money. It will be a tough test, but Tonelli believes she has the talent.

Now, it comes down to dedication. Without her coach (or mom) there to push her, Okhremchuk will have to pour in hours of work to try and make it on the Futures Tour first. It’s a financial risk, too, but tennis has been Okhremchuk’s driving force, taking her from Ukraine to France to the U.S.

“She definitely has a chance,” Tonelli said. “It’s going to be about how much work you put into it. I know a lot of people from poor countries who come up in their Volkswagen van. They pull in, practice for six hours before the match, they play the match, they drive to the next tournament and repeat. It takes a lot of motivation. She has the game. Now, what is she going to do with the game?”

If Okhremchuk doesn’t make it as a pro tennis player, she wants to go to grad school somewhere in California. She wants to stay in America as long as possible, especially with the chaos back home.

Okhremchuk has Skyped with her parents often to ensure they’re safe. She’s confident violence won’t break out in Crimea. So far, the only big changes have been swapping out Ukrainian flags with Russian ones (her credit cards also don’t work anymore since Russia closed down all the Ukrainian banks).

Okhremchuk has tried to convince her mom to move to America, so far without success. But her family couldn’t be more proud. She left the house at 12 years old headed to France. Now, she’s 22 years old, an independent woman on the verge of a degree and potentially a professional tennis career.

“She’s a really tough girl,” Andrey Okhremchuk said. “She’s been on her own for a long time, no parents around. I’m very happy she’s had such good results in America. I know it’s been tough for her, in all aspects, not just tennis, but with school and there’s a lot of pressure. But I’m quite proud of her. She’s never complained once that she’s tired or not happy. Never, ever. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”